The next day, after I finally finished moving everything in and unpacking, I laid down on my bed. I was happy to find that it didn't take up much of the room, and what little furniture I had fit in perfectly. My clothes hardly took up half of the closet, and the only thing I had that James didn't was decorations. I made sure to keep them minimal, and tried to go with a theme instead of the wacky, eclectic explosion of color I was used to. I just couldn't live in a space without a few personal touches, though.

James was gone as I moved in, but there wasn't much that I needed to ask him about, and Kendall and Logan were more than helpful. Kendall even let me keep my books in the empty bookcase that occupied to small, sunny parlor next to the hallway. I could see that becoming a favorite reading spot of mine, especially since nobody else seemed to ever use it.

I left shortly after unpacking to go to class. I felt weird, sitting and scribbling notes down as usual, despite the fact that the last 24 hours had radically changed my entire life. After my procession of three classes was done, I decided to take a little walk in the area around my new house, in order to familiarize myself with the location. I already knew the city pretty well, but I'd never particularly taken notice of this little area. I made mental notes to ask about a few of the restaurants and check out a few of the shops. The sun was starting to get closer and closer to the horizon, so I decided to head home before it got dark.

Home. It was kind of nice to think of my own home, away from family. I liked the idea of independence, even if it was with four roommates. I made my way back to the little yellow house and went up to my room. I dropped all of my school stuff and took some pajamas and a towel out of my barren closet. I went into the bathroom down the hall and took out all of my toiletries from under the sink. It started to sink in that I was living in my own house (shared with four other people, but whatever), taking my first shower. These little moments where I really realized the change in my life were sort of disorienting.

I undressed and stepped into the old shower. The water pressure wasn't exactly great, but the house, like many of those in this city, was pretty old. I started to think about my roommates. They all seemed surprisingly nice, but I still couldn't tell if it was just because they were trying to create a pleasant atmosphere in the house, or if they were genuinely likeable. I figured that it could be worse than trying to make a nice living situation, so that alone said a lot about their personalities.

I hadn't talked much to Logan, and I'd been much too nervous to talk to James, but Carlos and Kendall were really cool. Kendall was sort of goofy, but I really think he has a heart of gold. He seems like the type of person that just wants to do the right thing. Carlos was really funny and hyperactive, and seemed to like jokes and pranks. I'd gotten to be fast friends with them over the past…day. It hit me just then that only yesterday I'd been living at home. I thought that I should make an effort to befriend Logan. It'd be nice to be in a house full of friends.

That is, if I could ever work up the courage to actually look James in the eyes. Suddenly, I heard a loud knocking at the bathroom door. "Occupied," I yelled, though I was sure whoever it was would be able to hear the shower. I then heard someone fiddling with the lock, and the door opened. I barely had enough Rainere to cup myself before Carlos threw open the shower curtain. He looked me up and down for a second.

I opened my mouth to say something, but he looked at my face and yelled "Fire!" My eyes widened and I looked around panicked. "Go, run, we have to get out of the house!" Carlos yelled, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me, dripping, out of the shower. I ran down the hallway, and sprinted down the stairs, Carlos at my heels. I could smell smoke and hear the one functioning smoke detector going off in the living room. Kendall was downstairs in the kitchen, and Carlos and I ran toward the door. Carlos flung it open and I started to run out, but rammed into someone who was entering.

I looked up from the floor to see James standing over me, looking very confused. He had a big wet, soapy spot on him from where we collided. James' eyes flickered over me as the fire alarm stopped beeping. I quickly realized the situation and covered myself. I looked over to Carlos, who was almost rolling on the floor because he was laughing so hard. Kendall, too, was giggling in the kitchen. I looked over to the oven, which was smoking with some burnt food in it. I couldn't help looking back up at James, who seemed to have realized the situation.

My face burned so hot that I was surprised all of the water on my body didn't turn to steam. James looked empathetically down at me, and offered me a hand to help me up. I stood up on my own and run up the stairs. I could feel his eyes on my exposed body the whole way up. I ran into our bedroom, and locked the door behind me. I was red from head to toe, and was burning with embarrassment.

I tried to break down the situation. That usually made me feel better. Okay, so what was so bad? Carlos just played a little joke. And I totally followed it, so what? And I ran smack into James, completely naked. And wet. And he saw me run into him, completely naked and wet. My pulse raced again as I got even more red.

Okay, but he seemed understanding. That's good, right? He seemed to get the situation and feel bad for me. When he saw me lying on the floor, completely naked and wet. Oh jeez, this really isn't working.

I decided to just take a few deep breaths, do a little meditation-like zoning out for a few minutes, then dry off, and put on some clothes. I felt better as I went to the door and unlocked it, about to turn the knob. Then I turned around and jumped into my bed, under the covers.

Do I really need to face this? I could just pretend it never happened. I could move, and change my name. Wait, what was I getting so worked up about? It was just my body, I mean, everyone has one. I'm nothing James hasn't seen before. And I look damn good naked! He was lucky to see that. Hell, I should charge him!

Okay, let's not push it. I decided to end all of this crazy inner-dialogue and go downstairs for some dinner. I nervously crept down the hallway and descended the stairs, hoping nobody would particularly notice me.

As I got down to the living room, I saw all four of my roommates sitting around, looking at each other as if I had interrupted a serious conversation. They all smiled weakly, that sort of 'hey-kiddo-sorry-about-what-we-all-know-happened' smile. I noticed Carlos looked like he was getting a black eye. I awkwardly made my way to the kitchen, aware of all of their eyes on me. I made a Nutella sandwich and went into the living room. Before I could get to the stairs, Carlos said "Hey, Rainer."

I looked at him and tried my best not to look like anything was particularly wrong. "Yeah?"

"I, uh, I'm sorry," Carlos said. "I guess…I mean, it's your first day here, and we don't-er, well, I shouldn't have, you know. It was a shitty thing to do."

I decided it was best to play it cool. "Oh, yeah, it's no big deal. It was just a prank."

"Really?" Carlos said. "'Cause, I mean, you were in your room for, like, a long Rainere, and James totally saw-"

Carlos was cut short by James, who was sitting in a chair next to him, punching in the arm. It looked painful, and I wish I could say that I wasn't glad. "It's really no big deal," I said. I tried to laugh, but it just kind of came out forced. I instantly wished I hadn't.

"So," Kendall said, indicating that we were moving on. Everyone seemed to relax a little bit. "Do you guys wanna go somewhere for dinner? You know, as a sort of welcome?"

"Yeah," said Logan. "I haven't had any decent food in a long Rainere."

"Where do you guys think we should go?" Kendall asked.

After a few minutes of debate, which I stayed out of, they decided on a restaurant, and we went off for our first meal together. The awkwardness seemed to die down as we ate, and conversation flowed. I felt really self conscious eating right next to James, so I ordered something light and ate sparingly. Carlos, feeling guilty, insisted on paying for me. I decided to let him and not cause a scene. We all left and walked back to our little yellow house. I was starting feel like less of an outsider and more like a part of their group. Once we got inside, everyone said their goodnights and took shifts in the bathrooms. Finally, James and I were both lying down in our beds for our first night together.

"Hey, Rainer?" James said only a few minutes after we'd both gotten into bed. His voice came from above me, because his bed was quite a bit higher than mine.

"Yeah?" I asked nervously. I still wasn't comfortable around him, especially after today.

"Are you really okay?" he asked.

"I really am," I answered. "But thanks." I was glad he couldn't see how deeply I was blushing.

A few minutes passed before I finally worked up the courage to ask, "Hey James, what happened to Carlos' eye?"

James paused before saying, "I kind of punched him."

I almost wanted to ask why, just to hear him say it, but I resisted.